At Senate Rules Committee Hearing, Ranking Member Klobuchar Opposes Trainor and Abandonment of Bipartisan Process for Advancing FEC Nominees

At the Rules Committee markup, Klobuchar criticizes abandonment of the tradition of advancing Republican and Democratic nominees together in order to move forward an extreme nominee who doesn’t believe in basic campaign finance law

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ranking Member of the Senate Rules Committee with jurisdiction over federal elections, reiterated her opposition to the Senate abandoning the bipartisan tradition of considering Federal Election Commission (FEC) nominees, as well as her opposition to the nominee, Mr. Trey Trainor. Democratic and Republican leaders in the Senate have each put forward a candidate to the White House for consideration. Traditionally nominees to the FEC have been confirmed in bipartisan pairs.  By moving forward with only the Republican nominee, the advancement of Mr. Trainor breaks with that tradition.

“Mr. Trainor has consistently worked to dismantle the rules that keep corruption out of our political system,” Klobuchar said. “Our hearing in March showed that this nominee has spent his career arguing that people shouldn’t have to disclose political spending and working to stack the decks against voters by gerrymandering districts to dilute minority voting power. As my Democratic colleagues and I noted during Mr. Trainor’s hearing in March, the FEC has been plagued by partisan gridlock for years. Therefore, now is not the time to abandon the tradition of moving FEC nominees together in Democratic and Republican pairs.”

Video footage of Klobuchar’s remarks at the hearing can be found HERE.

Klobuchar has been a leader in the fight to restore a quorum at the FEC through the appointment of candidates from both parties. In January, Klobuchar led a letter to White House Counsel Pat Cipollone urging the Administration to immediately nominate the bipartisan pair of candidates that have been submitted to President Donald Trump by Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to fill the current vacancies at the Federal Election Commission (FEC). This letter was preceded by one that was sent in August, where Klobuchar sent a letter to President Trump urging him to swiftly complete the vetting process on the Democratic candidate and put forward a nominee so that the Senate could move forward with the confirmation process.

Klobuchar is also leader on campaign finance reform legislation. She has been a champion of the For the People Act in the Senate and is the lead sponsor of the Campaign Finance Transparency Act, legislation that would dramatically improve the functionality of the Federal Election Commission. Last October, Klobuchar introduced the Stopping Harmful Interference in Elections for a Lasting Democracy (SHIELD) Act. The legislation, which passed the House of Representatives, includes three Klobuchar provisions to secure U.S. elections, including the Honest Ads Act, PAID ADs Act, and Deceptive Practices and the Voter Intimidation Prevention Act. In October she also introduced the Help America Run Act. This legislation would make it easier to run for office by expanding the permitted uses of campaign funds to include child care, elder care, dependent care, and health care premiums.

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